The present invention concerns printers and pertains particularly to a service tool used to service printers.
While laser printers manufactured by Hewlett-Packard Company have proved to be extremely reliable, there is the occasional need for a printer to be serviced. When a printer malfunctions, typically service personnel use a digital multi-meter and their past experience to determine the cause of the problem. Diagnosing a problem often includes swapping out multiple parts in an effort to discover the source of the problem. This type of service relies heavily on the skill of the service personnel. The haphazard nature of such diagnosis can lead to increased material and labor costs due to misdiagnosis of problems.
A Laser Driver Checker tool developed by Canon USA Inc., having a business address of 2051 Mission College Blvd., Santa Clara, Calif. 95054-1566, interfaces to a diagnostic port on a DC controller within printers. However, the service tool provides no testing of the printer formatter or control panel of the printer. Further, the service tool was designed for Canon factory use, specifically for internal manufacturing purposes. The service tool is expensive and does not decode failure information automatically. The user must interpret LED flashes to know what the printer engine failure is.
The Lasertest NX60 test tool, available from Laser Wizard, having a business address of Valley Forge Business Center, 705 General Washington Avenue, Ste 202, Northtown Pa. 19403-3683, interfaces to the DC controller diagnostic port and the control panel port of a printer. This first module is a test tool for a printer engine manufactured by Canon, Inc. The Lasertest NX60 test tool is a second module which gives the first module the capability to test the HP LaserJet IIISI printer and the HP LaserJet 4Si printer available from Hewlett-Packard Company, having a business address of 3000 Hanover Street, Palo Alto, Calif. 94304. Thus to interface to an HP LaserJet IIISI printer or an HP LaserJet 4Si printer, two separate modules are connected together to create a single test tool. This combination is very confusing because the descriptions for the buttons on the first module refer to a printer engine which is different than the printer engine utilized by the HP IIISI printer and the HP LaserJet 4Si printer. The user must look at a drawing located on the second module in order to interpret what the buttons on the first module do when testing a HP LaserJet IIISI or a HP LaserJet 4Si printer. The test tool utilizes a single 1xc3x9716 character display to show information. The result is that it is confusing and hard to use without training. The connector for the diagnostic port on the DC Controller has all of its electrical leads exposed, which could cause additional harm to the printer.
In accordance with the preferred embodiment of the present invention, a printer service tool is presented. The printer service tool includes a control panel port connector for connecting to the control panel port of a printer, a controller diagnostic port connector for connecting to a diagnostic port of the printer, and a display. The display displays a plurality of menus. A first menu includes a representation of buttons displayed on a control panel of the printer. A second menu includes menu items which provides ability to monitor printer functionality.
For example, the second menu includes menu items from an engine test menu. Alternatively, the second menu includes menu items which allow selection of a paper path through the printer, or the second menu includes an indication of the fuser temperature for the printer. In another the menu can include a representation of buttons displayed on a control panel of a second type of printer.
In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the printer service tool includes a port connector for connecting the printer service tool to an external computing device. The printer service tool transfers to the external computing device, through the port connector, service information obtained from the printer.
In one embodiment, software, running on the external computing system, receives current contents of a control panel display of the printer as part of the service information and displays detailed information about any messages and errors indicated by the current contents of the control panel display. The detailed information includes, for example, information about any failure in printer operation and includes a suggested fix. The software also can include a web browser to be used for display the detailed information as well as updating the detailed information from a remote web site.
In the preferred embodiment, the printer service tool implements macros selected by a user of the printer service tool. For example, when the user selects a first macro to be performed at start-up of the printer, the printer service tool, upon detecting start-up of the printer, simulates button presses on a control panel for the printer. This is done by the printer service tool setting button values for the control panel, and holding the button values for a predetermined amount of time. For example, the first macro places the printer into a service mode or into an extended diagnostics mode.
The present invention provides an easy way to diagnose and troubleshoot printers. The printer service tool reduces repair labor costs and material costs and allows service personnel to accurately diagnose and identify the failing field replaceable unit (FRU) within the printer.
The printer service tool may be manufactured at a low cost and is easy to use, requiring little or no training to operate printer service tool. Simple menus are displayed on a graphical display, which also contribute to user friendliness. The macros allow single button access into the printer service mode or extended diagnostic mode. Errors captured from the engine diagnostic port are automatically decoded, displayed and described in text on the graphical display of printer service tool, also contributing to the convenience of the user.
The software interface is very useful because it automatically interprets numeric failure messages displayed by the control panel and uses an integrated web browser to provide a detailed description of the failure as well as a suggested fix. Previously this information was not decoded and the user would manually look the information up in a service manual. Also, in the preferred embodiment, the software is designed in a modular fashion using HTML files so that fix/failure information can be updated over time by simply downloading the latest HTML files from a remote web site. This prevents the user from having to download the entire program each time a file is updated. In addition to the features mentioned above the software also has the same functionality as the test tool menus. The printer service tool allows the user to move between test menus while displaying DC-Controller failure messages, formatter error messages, high voltage drive signals, and the printer display all at the same time. This gives the user the advantage of seeing the failure information while continuing to exercise the printer in an attempt to determine the cause of the failure.